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GOAL MINING MAGHINE';

Patented Jan. 15, 1884.

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J. LUCAS.

' GOAL MINING MACHINE.

No. 291,916. Patented'Jan. 15,1884.

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1 J. LUCAS GOAL MINING MACHINE.

Patented Jan. 15, 1884.

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JOHN LUCAS, OF HAWKS NEST, WEST VIRGINIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,916, dated January 15, 1884.

Application filed June 23, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN LUCAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hawks Nest, in the county of Fayette and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and useful Coal-Mining Machine, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to coal-mining machines; and it consists in the novel construction and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a plan view of my coal-mining machine. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view. Fig. 4 is a rear view. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the line a: w in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view on the line y 3/ in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the carriage. Fig. 8 is a detail front View of the same.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures.

A in the drawings designates the frame of the machine, which may be of any suitable appropriate construction. The sides of the said frame are provided with longitudinal rails or guides B B, extending entirely through the said frame, and mounted upon the inner sides of the sides ofthe frame, a short distance above the floor, at a sufficient height only to insure the successful operation of the carriage, which is mounted upon the said rails, and which will be presently described. The frame A is provided, near its rearend, with suitable boxings or bearings for a series of sleeves or bushings, G C, arranged side by side in a horizontal plane.

D D are pulleys mounted securely upon the said bushings, which latter are provided with interior longitudinal keys or feathers, E E, taking in longitudinal grooves F in the drill or auger shafts or shanks G G, which extend through and slide longitudinally in the said bushings.

H designates the carriage, which consists of a body, I, the ends of which are provided with flanged guides J J, sliding upon the track-rails B B at the sides of the frame. Said carriage is provided with a series of boxes, K K, in which the front ends of the drill or anger shanks G G are journaled. Said shanks are provided in front of the said boxes with sockets L L, in which the drills or angers M M are seated, and held securely by means of trans verse keys or bolts N.

O is a bracket extending upwardly from the boxes K of the carriage, and to this bracket the front end of the feed-screw P is secured. Said feed-screw extends rearwardly from the carriage, and through the rear end of the frame, above the drill or auger shanks, as shown.

In the rear part of the frame, above the pulleys D, bearings are provided for a series of idlers, QQ, and for a central bushing or sleeve, R, which is interiorly screw-threaded, so as to receive and engage with the feed-screw.

Upon the sleeve or bushing R is placed a large pulley, S,which is securely keyed to the said bushing,which may thereby be operated so as to cause the feed-screw to move or travel in the desired direction, carrying with it the carriage and the drills or angers connected to the same.

The top of the frame is provided at its rear end with bearings for a central longitudinal bushing, T, constructed, like the bushings G, with an interior key or feather, U, engaging a longitudinal groove, V, in a drill or anger shank, V, arranged to slide longitudinally in the said bushing. The latter has a fixed pul-' ley, X. The front end of the drill or anger shank WV is journalcd in the upper end of the bracket 0, extending upwardly from the carriage H, and is provided with a socket, Y, in which the drill or auger Z is secured, as shown.

At the front end of the frame, plates A A are arranged, which are provided with openings or pockets B", through which the front ends of the drills or angers extend, as will be seen by reference to the drawings. Said openings may be either square, as in-the drawings, or round,.and they are made just of sufficient size to accommodate the drills or augers,which they serve to guide, and lateral displacement or vibration of which is thereby prevented. It is evident that the plates must be sufficiently thick or provided with flanges of sufficient width to prevent the spiral flanges of the drills or angers from being caught in the sides of the openings or pockets.

On top of the frame, at the rear end of the latter, and adjoining the crown drill or anger. are mounted a pair of shafts, C D adapted to be driven in opposite directions by a pair of suitably-constructed spring-motors,th'e casings of which, E and F, are supported on top of the frame inclosing the said shafts, which may be thrown into or out of gear with the motors by means of clutches G sliding upon the said shafts and operated by levers In the construction of the spring-motors no novelty is herein claimed, and in the drawiugs hereto annexed only as much ofthei r mechanism as is necessary to illustrate the operation of my invention has been shown. The ends of the sleeves 1 which are directly operated by the spring-motors, and which are adapted to engage the clutches G carry ratchct-wheels J". engaging pawls'K,'si1ital ly pivoted to the frame, and which hold the springs from unwinding. hen either motor is to be thrown into operation, it is first to be released from the pawl Ii by simply throwing the latter back and out of engagement with the ratchct-wheel.

The rear ends of the shafts C and D are provided with band-wheels L and Id and with cranks N, for winding the springs of the respective motors. The shaft 0 is also provided at its rear end with a flanged wheel, 0*, around which passes a strap, P", one end of which is suitably attached to the frame, and the other end of which is attached to a lever, Q, by which the said strapmay be tightened around the wheel 0", so as to check the operation of the machine.

Ii is the drivingbelt, which passes from the band-wheel L down under the pulley D of the first drill or auger in the set or gang, up over the first idler, and then alternately under the pulleys D and over the idlers Q and the large central pulley, S, by which the feed-screw is driven, from under the last pulley D in the set over the band-wheel M then under the iulley X of the crown drill or anger, and finally back over the band-wheel If.

The frame A is provided with pawls or dogs S", which serve to hold the machine steady and securely in position during operation. I

It will be observed from the foregoing that the two spring-motors serve to operate the drills or angers in opposite directions, the motor E serving to feed them or move them forwardly for operation, while the motor I serves to return the drills or angers to the startingpoint or to withdraw them from the openings made by the said drills or angers.

The operation of this invention will be readil y understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed. The machine being set or arranged in its proper position in front of the place where it is desired to make the drills or angers, the motor'E is wound. Said motor is then engaged by the clutch G2 with the shaft 0 and released from the pawl K. The other motor remains disengaged from the shaft D, upon which it is mounted. Motion is imparted by the driving-belt from the band-wheel L upon the shaft 0 to all of the drills or angers and to the feed-screw, which latter moves the carriage carrying the drills or angers in a forward direction, making the desired openings. When the motor has run down, or when the carriage has been fed forward to its full extent, the pawl K? is thrown into engagement with the ratchet-wheel of the said motor, the'fiutch of the latter disengaged from the shaft 0', and the motor F wound and started, thereby reversing the drills or angers and feed-screw, and returning the carriage and drills or angers to their original position for a repetition of the operation. The machine may then be moved and the process repeated.

It will be observed that by this machine a series of openings are made side by side, and a crown or blast hole above the said series. When a charge is placed in th said crownhole and exploded, its tendency will be to break down the coal in a solid lump, thereby avoiding much. of the waste in dust and calm experienced by the ordinary methods of mining as now usually carried on. The machine is simple in construction, easily o 'ieratcd, and can be readily made powerful and durable enough for all practical purposes.

I am aware, prior to my invention, that a mining-machine has been constructed with rotating cutters arranged in rows or sets and geared, in combination with a traveling carriage provided with actuatinggearing; also, a mining-machine having a movable carriage with gangs of rotating cutters, having rearwardly'grooved shanks with bushing feathered thereto, a feed mechanism, and actuating mechanism, and to such organizations no broad claim is herein made.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- In a mining-machine, the combination of the frame, a longitudinally-movable carriage, a feed-screw attached to the said carriage, a revolving nut mounted upon the said feedscrcw, drills'or angers journaled in the said carriage, and having rearwardly-'extending longitudinally grooved shanks, revolving bushings feathered upon said shanks, and mechanism for operating the said bushings and the feed-nut, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JOHN LUCAS.

W'itn esses:

GEO. DAVIS, U F. J. DE Gn-UYTER. 

